Fourth Sunday of Advent: 12/21/14—10:00 AM and 12:00 M
One of the most interesting books I possess is this one: A Pilgrim’s Almanac by Father Ed Hays, a priest
of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. This book offers reflections for each day of the year. The ones
for December 6th and 7th offer a lot of food for thought. December 6th is, of course, the feast of St.
Nicholas. For that day, Father Hays writes: Feast of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the
fourth century, patron of children, pawnbrokers and sailors. Nicholas, known for his generosity, is also
the patron saint of Greece, Russia and Sicily. Today in many European countries, this Dutch Sinter Klaus,
or Santa Claus, gives gifts of fruit, candy and sweets. Pray today for the heart of a child so as to enjoy
this magical and mystical season of Christmastide.–pretty normal stuff for December 6th. But, for the
following day, December 7th, he entitles his reflection “Celebration of an X-Rated Holiday.” He writes: A
day to recall the anti-Christmas movement. As early as 1583, the Puritans banned Christmas. In 1644,
they made it a day of fast and penance. Any celebration was outlawed under pain of severe punishment
by an act of the English Parliament in 1647. Until 1856, December 25 was an ordinary work day in
Boston, and, in as late as 1870, the public schools of Boston had classes on Christmas. But, as with so
many other forbidden things that people love, Christmas escaped the law. And, of course, it is alive and
well today. This has been largely due to the influence of nineteenth century immigrants to the United
States from Catholic Europe. Be grateful, today, if you love Christmas, that it wasn’t outlawed.
It’s amazing to think about what we remember and how far back some of our own personal memories
go. One of my own personal memories was hearing a Christmas homily when I was in grade school,
maybe a sixth grader. The priest was talking about this movement in Protestant England to outlaw
Christmas because it was thought to be too Roman and “popish,” as they called it, too much reminding
them of the Pope. The story that the priest told was about a debate in the British Parliament on this
subject. I don’t remember the name of the man trying to defend Christmas, but the man attacking it was
named Thomas Massey. Massey gave all the regular arguments against Christmas and was trying to get
Christmas renamed Christ-tide, again thinking that the “–mas” part of its title was too Roman and
“popish,” so again he said that “Christ-mas” should become “Christ-tide.” The other man in the debate
said that he could accept Massey’s recommendation if Thomas Massey himself would be willing to do one
thing, and that would be willing to change his name from “Thomas Massey” to “To-tide Tide-tidy.”
In today’s bulletin you will find a comic strip that I clipped out of the Post-Dispatch from December 8
of this year. It’s from a strip called “Duplex,” and it shows the main character, Eno Camino, in a coffee
shop. After Eno makes a purchase, the attendant says to him “Here’s your coffee. Happy Holidays!” and
Eno says, “Excuse me?” The attendant then says to him, “You know, Season’s Greetings!” and Eno says,
“Huh?” The attendant then looks around and, when no one is looking, whispers to him, “Merry YouKnow-What.” When we hide our expression of the joy that this season and, even more so, the joy that
the event that this season celebrates, the birth of the God-Man in our midst in our human flesh, aren’t we
as guilty of denying Christmas as those English Puritans of 1600’s, as those Bostonians of the early 1800’s,
and as Eno Camino’s attendant in that coffee store?
In a real sense, Thomas Massey was right. The celebration of the Mass is central to the celebration of
Christmas because every celebration of the Eucharist is another Christmas, another incarnation of the
Eternal Word of God made flesh into what is of this Earth, not just bread and wine, but the ordinariness of
you and me, Joe and Josephine human. When we fail to acknowledge this feast with great feeling and full
commitment, we are, in fact, denying the tremendous truth of this feast, and we are reducing it into only
Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings. This coming week’s celebration of Christmas calls upon us to
embrace the full truth of this feast, that God loves us more than we can imagine and that he is always
close to us, turning our ordinariness into his own flesh, turning us ordinary humans into his Body and
Blood.
For more background, see: http://www.historytoday.com/chris-durston/lords-misrule-puritan-war-christmas-1642-60